Equanimitize

Just being aware that you know that you’re going through some sort of transformation or transition and that your ego is backlashing in of itself is sufficient enough for you to take the proper actions that need to be taken. As long as you can see what it is in truth (which it seems you can see what it is for what it is) Keep walking the edge, this is when you know you are growing when you do something for no other reason then it is difficult to do. Brene Brown talks about the vulnerability hangover when you say or do something courageous and in your mind you think “I shouldn’t have done that” or “what will they think of me.” Etc. etc. this in a nutshell is growth, and if it wasn’t challenging then everyone would be highly developed self actualized human beings.

The Goodreads app is great, gives me a place to store my digital library and “shelf them” according to subject. You can also track all the books you have read. Hoopla is a free audible like app that I set up the account from the local library. Tons of audible and digital books.

Right on, not everything in the course resonated with me 100%. People have different backgrounds, environments, cultures, genetics, etc. not everyone will have the same experience with everything in the course and everyone will resonate differently with the course material. I would say charge forward, and continue on. This is would I did at least, hope this helps.

I forgot to mention since you asked this question in the Life Purpose section-Not sure if you're taking or plan on taking the life purpose course but I would highly suggest taking the life purpose course or at minimum using other tools to figure out/find out what it is that can drive you. Theres freedom in knowing where it is that you are going.

Indeed it is a gift to start from scratch, each breathe you take is starting from scratch. It must have taken a lot of courage to get through the things you got through and congratulations on your beautiful child, what a blessing! I have found that anxiety appears when I am resisting something in the future that hasn't yet appeared in the present moment, some sort of trauma in the past triggered resistance which then leads to my anxiety. What I try to do when I have anxiety is to feel it fully without resistance, feel whatever arises and just bring your awareness to those sensations in your body wherever it is that the anxiety is coming from-for me I had a feeling in my chest area where I can feel the anxiety the most. If you can keep practicing this, it will help tremendously. Also, you can start contemplating what exactly is causing this anxiety? What exactly am I resisting? Why am I feeling this way? and if you can keep digging deep you will find your answers. Meditating and taking action is great, good for you and I would say continue this. "God helps those who help themselves." I would also say its ok to be lost, I have definitely been there before. I have found that the toughest times in life were such blessings, and the moments where I had to dig deep and figure things out were the very catalyst of my growth. You have to figure out what your biggest opportunity for growth is, in your personal life it is usually the thing that you are not able to talk about, it is the thing that you resist the most, it is the proverbial skeleton in the closet that you want to stay there forever, is the "part" of you that you never want to show the world. In order to move past this part of you that you "don't like" you have to include it. The best analogy I can give is imagine your baby is crying all the time and just wants you to acknowledge it, it just wants you to give him attention, as soon as you give him attention he stops crying. This is the same thing with personal development work in order to move past something you have to include it as part of you and accept it fully. This may mean that you need to get help from the outside, maybe hire a psychologist or life coach or mentor. You have to be ruthless and find answers because they are out there-and they will set you free. Lastly I would say one step at a time, "the joy is in the journey not the destination. " I hope this helps you and this advice is applicable to you, I am just sharing my own experience.

Thank You for reposting a post here. I was thinking of this.

@ChimpBrain I’m curious if this gave you the capability to stop other addictions in your life, sort of like a snowball effect?

Indeed this is truth, I never smoked. However, I was addicted to chewing tobacco for 10 years. A side tip is to commit to it and work in 24 hour blocks, commit to it everyday when you wake up. A book that may help you out is "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. Whats cool about bad habits is that if you overcome one of them, you just acquired a super power. You now have the Power to take out all of your addictions, and it will trickle out into all aspects of your life. Hope this helps

What is your Biggest Opportunity for Growth? When you look at making decisions for your future with so many options it can get confusing sometimes. Having a Vision/Life Purpose is absolutely crucial. Think of it this way-your treading water and your surrounded by islands, theres plenty of Islands to go to but every time you start swimming to an Island you get distracted and veer of course to go to another Island, so you are continuously wasting your energy and resources on things that don't align with your higher self because you don't have the Map to get there. This is essentially what you are doing when you don't have a purpose/vision for yourself-you don't have the Map. Nothing is wrong with doing an Amazon course if you need some money in the bank, nothing is wrong with doing a little side hustle project to get you where you need to go; however, theres nothing much more important then figuring out your own personal Map. This will affect all aspects of your life and you will be glad you made the investment. Lastly, don't beat yourself up for procrastinating or not being motivated, etc.. Get right back into it and charge forward, have some trust in the process. Play the Long game not the Short game.

For those that are philosophical minded, here’s a pretty cool resource. Enjoy. https://www.denizcemonduygu.com/portfolio/the-history-of-philosophy/

Yes, they actually go into this and talk about how irrational fear could have been passed down from generation to generation. Joe asked Rupert what he thought causes this manifestation to occur-he essentially said something deeper is going on that we don’t yet understand. Bruce Liptons work is someone you can study as well if you’d like to get a scientific perspective after your contemplation. Cool topic, it goes along with Leo’s intelligence video as well.

Good question, It’s difficult to analyze what I retain when listening to audiobooks. I’d say I probably understand/retain concepts and insights better when reading a hard cover book. The “good shit sticks” definitely resonates with me, and this is true-when you get that big aha moment you don’t really need notes. The best way to retain information for me is talking/teaching about what I read to anyone who wants to listen. Ive heard of people using a piece of blank paper and start a mind map and use it as a book mark. Every time you pick up the book you review the mind map, you can keep adding to the mind map as you move through the book. I probably will try this at some point.

Yeah, I think I even heard Adyashanti crack jokes about how spiritual seekers “all think they are enlightened” something along these lines. That spirituality is filled with people who think they understand the depth of reality and God. I suppose this is all part of the process. I start to wonder how much the ego plays tricks on me. Lol ?

Interesting, I listened to Rupert Sheldrake on the Joe Rogan podcast today and he talks about morphic resonance and how lab rats who were artificially inseminated from generation to generation knew not to do a certain action or go a certain route on the maze because they would get an electrical shock. Each generation continuously had better odds of not going the route that causes a shock. It’s Podcast 550, he talks about the studies in the very beginning.

@Gabriel Antonio I don’t really look at Gandhi as a genius in the general sense of the term. He had purpose and chose to break free of the chains that were holding him back, and he embodied that what he wanted to see in the world. I’m not sure I understand your post, can you explain further?

No problem, my pleasure! In the end I think it is best to leave the environment that is toxic and demoralizing. With that being said if you do decide to stay or you have no choice to stay whats going to end up happening is you will be the catalyst for everyone else as long as you keep developing yourself. In other words you will become the leader, and before you know it you will actually change the trajectory of the environment that you are in. You will be the shining light for everyone to see, you will embody strength, you will exude love and compassion-and people will be attracted to your energy. When people see your energy their almost forced to look within, they are forced to stop pointing the finger outward because they actually do realize even for a moment that three are pointing back at them.

Fascinating topic, Thank you. I'd say the capability to breathe properly is hardwired in us. If you look at newborns they breathe deep into their stomachs. Only as we let life's stressors and traumatic experiences restrict us we start to have shallow breathing. Almost like you have to re-learn what you were originally born with.

Not saying I disagree with you but it could also be confirmation bias, kinda like when someone buys a new car they suddenly see that car everywhere. The other word I see used a ton is mindful, and like the word ego people define it differently and usually don't know its deeper meaning.

Definitely an option, but to leave on ones own terms, to go into the abyss, to go into the unknown void, to leave comfort and security for the hero's journey is definitely a masculine trait. To penetrate the world with ones own gifts is a masculine trait. With that being said I don't see why this has to be an either/or thing. You can be masculine in your pursuit to break free of what chains hold you down but at the same time completely open and showing love and compassion for all of humanity in route to that which you want to achieve. Jesus seems to me to be the ultimate honey badger and had some very masculine traits, if he didn't we probably wouldn't be talking about him right now. For Jesus to die on the cross with his arms open is the ultimate masculine/feminine model in which we can embody. Sure you want feminine qualities but why not masculine qualities as well? Remember Stage Red has its own purpose too, you don't want to just get rid of it.

Sometimes you have to be a honey badger to get up on your way and take the route that needs to be taken in order to be the very mechanism that inevitably will help the people in which you are leaving. No need to say "fuck other people" but at the same time I believe it is ABSOLUTELY crucial to walk on your edge and get on the path. When this happens the typical steps in some form or fashion will go like this "first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" as Mahatma Gandhi says. I would also say that by you leaving the herd, you are actually giving them way more value then if you stayed-you are giving them inspiration that they have never seen before. I would say that its not about saying fuck the other people but rather love of yourself which will then translate to love of other people.

Absolutely, thats what the majority of companies in America are doing. The only problem is, it may be very shallow and won't reverberate back to you the energy in which you are giving to the world-think of a fully self sustaining vehicle that maintains itself, refuels itself, and drives itself instead of a vehicle in which YOU have to do the work to refuel, maintain, and drive. When you are driven towards something it will be power (the very energy you put out comes back to you) vs. force (The energy you put out is depleting).

Sure, thank you for the question! From my experience one of the common denominators of a toxic work environment is there is usually someone on the top of the hierarchy that has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder (Sociopath), or worse case scenario a Psychopath. Of course these are just labels of different human beings, and they are spreading their energy out into the world for their own survival. What happens though, is that the tentacles reach out and touch everyone in the organization, which can lead to a lot of dysfunction. A few of the traits that I would say define a toxic work environment are Harmful Negative Gossip also known as backbiting, manipulation, bullying, fearful culture, low morale, harassment, retaliation, apathy, nihilism, intimidation, corruption, lack of vision/purpose, and many other traits. What this leads to usually is a lack of mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. People usually have long bouts of depression, and sort of get into a perpetual state of misery where they don’t know where or what to do next. So what I have done, is use the unconscious behavior at the toxic work environment to transform my life. Of course the end state is always to remove yourself from this environment with the right purpose/vision. However, in the meantime you can use the environment as a tool for your personal development as that is what I have done. Also, I would also like to add that in mainstream America where most companies are operating at stage Orange of Spiral Dynamics-which tend to be very toxic work environments because everything revolves around the bottom dollar, they are not able to see that they can have the bottom dollar as well as physical and emotional health. I give an example of a toxic work environment, but in reality it is just a microcosm of the greater whole of society-so this will be applicable to literally everyone. In a nutshell pain and suffering is what gave me the capability to begin the self actualization journey. Theres some truth to this, which should give credence to how much suffering is going on within society. This should also motivate us to become our best versions so we can "be the change we want to see." I mean, just look at peoples body language next time you go to the grocery store, theres a lot of suffering. It takes someone strong, someone who has been through the gauntlet to turn the darkness into light. We have choices everyday to make a difference in our life and others lives.

@Waves The only time I listen to audiobooks is when I am driving, doing the dishes, etc. and I am usually listening to it at 2x-3x speed therefore it makes it difficult to retain the information however you can still understand the big concepts of what the book is trying to teach. Audible has a feature where you can pin audio notes whenever you like. You can always pin the audio and later on add that information to your notes. Not really sure what "good shit sticks" is, if the audiobook is of very high value I would purchase the hard copy to read at a later date. Just a side note: If you live in the United States, a lot of local libraries offer a free Hoopla account. You can download the app on your smart phone and add up to 15 titles a month free-they have tons of personal development books that you can listen to.

Nice list, Thanks. I would just add that theres no relevant data that says waking up early = more productivity. The better goal I would say is going through the whole rest cycle with at least 7+ hours of sleep. Just an FYI, I love waking up early as well-just insure you're getting sufficient rest.

I used a very toxic work environment and the suffering that ensued as a way to completely change my life. Many spiritual masters will talk about how unconscious behavior can be your catalyst for growth. Of course your end state should be to leave that which doesn't serve you; however, don't let the monkey mind convince you that you need this or that to self actualize. You have to work with what God issued you, and try and make it the best vehicle (this body brain spirit thing you have) you possibly can. Hope this makes sense. Much love to you.